Creative spirituality

I had a flowering branch placed by my pillow. As I draw it faithfully, I feel I am gradually coming to grasp the secrets of creation.

— Masaoka Shiki

Welcome to the Creative Well--here we invite you to explore the relationship between creativity and the spiritual life. The history of world art is replete with extraordinary, powerful depictions of myth, scripture, mystical encounters-- all pointing to humanity’s relationship to the Divine in sacred as well as irreverent language, tone and image.

Sometimes expression is dramatically bold and direct, perhaps even disturbing. More often art speaks through metaphor, symbols, subtle impressions, and even fragments, struggling to give voice to those aspects of life which as yet have no words but which we must discover and digest beyond definition. Painting, sculpture, literature, poetry, music, theater, dance, photography, and film--all hold the potential to reveal the unknown and unrealized aspects of life. And we, as witnesses and participants, are suddenly struck with improbable recognition: “Yes, this is the way it is.” Or the way it could be... Such work feeds our souls, our spirits, as it opens and expands our own vision, imagination and intuitive grasp of Truth. We are changed by art.

Louis Brawley, "Collapse into Order"

Louis Brawley, "From the Back Seat"

Dividing Cells as Seen Under Microscope

"Govinda Jai Jai" by Alice Coltrane

Hot Air Balloons in New Mexico Time-Lapse

Earth From Space From International Space Station

5 Poems by Robert Creeley

"Turiya and Ramakrishna" by Alice Coltrane

Wendell Berry Reads A Poem on Hope

Gary Snyder Reads "Reality Insight"

Julian Voss-Andreae, "Spannungsfeld" (2014)

Creative spirituality is more than being a witness to art. We find a new recognition of the ‘real-time’ creative activity of Life. Creativity takes us beyond the constructs of specific art forms to the movement and dynamic principles of life. Living from a spiritual dimension means living in a creative flow with points of action and choice, unexpected arrivals and events, the shifting sands of interaction with other lives and natural forces, and our own individual self-dynamic of multi-layers of identities within us that open doors of self-expression.

We are creativity itself and we are creative works as living beings. The 21st century has already given rise to new depths of knowledge and new paradigms of creativity and discovery. It is inevitable that art will not only express spirituality but also continue to alter and develop our understanding of the Transcendent. Dr. Susan Nettleton

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost, the world will not have it.

— Martha Graham

The Hillside Source is an online resource project of Hillside Community Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico.